Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (And What We Can Do About It)
by
William Poundstone
Published 5 Feb 2008
This puzzle has earned a name: the voter paradox (not to be confused with the "paradox of voting"). We need lots of people to vote in order to perpetuate the democratic process. Yet it's in no one's personal interest to do so. The voter paradox is similar to other problems studied by game theorists. They go by such names as the "tragedy of the commons," the "volunteer's dilemma," and the "free-rider dilemma:' These describe situations where everyone shares a benefit provided enough people volunteer to perform an altruistic act ... but the shirkers get the same benefit as the volunteers. More-or-Iess rational people vote for many reasons. For some, it is a matter of guilt.